About the Book:

A comprehensive guide to creating and developing comic book and
graphic novel art, from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD),
one of the world’s leaders in sequential arts instruction.

Artists
seeking a way to break into the exciting world of sequential art first
need to master the tools, techniques, and habits used by their favorite
pencillers, inkers, and digital artists for creating dynamic, exciting
comic artwork. In Foundations for Comic Book Art, the Savannah
College of Art and Design (SCAD)—a leading force in art and design
education—enlists one of its top instructors, John Paul Lowe, to provide
aspiring comic book makers with a thorough primer for creative comics,
featuring must-know concepts like contour drawing, mastering
perspective, using photo-reference, and adding digital patterns.
Examples from the works of SCAD faculty, alumni, and students are paired
with Lowe’s easy-to-follow, step-by-step lessons and exercises for
readers, demonstrating the vital processes all would-be sequential
artists have to know before joining the ranks of the comic book–making
elite.

About the Author:

JOHN PAUL LOWE began teaching at the Savannah College of Art and
Design in 2002. He has served as the school’s chair of the Sequential
Art Department and as dean of the School of Communication Arts. In 2013,
he happily returned to the classroom and his art studio. His career in
comics began in 1991 with DC Comics. Lowe has also worked for Marvel
Comics, Image Comics, Archie Comics, and Dark Horse Comics. Lowe is the
creator of the award-winning annual Sequential Arts Anthology, and the author of Working Methods: Creators Detail their Storytelling and Artistic Processes.

My Thoughts:

This book is fabulous! It covers all the basics of creating great art. It has sections on perspective, figure drawing, and inking. The artwork in the book is amazing, and the advice is solid and easy to understand. While it doesn’t cover absolutely everything you need to know about comic book art, it is a great resource to get you started on the right path. I especially liked the section on using photographic reference and turning your friends and family into comic book characters.

This book covers the artistic side of comic books, not the writing or the business end. But if you are serious about becoming a comic book artist, it’s a must read. If you are considering buying this book for your child or teen, you should probably look through it first. Like most art books, it has nude figures in it. Learning to draw the human body is part of becoming a great artist, but it makes some people uncomfortable, so I thought I’d mention it.

Content: Nude figures

Source: I received a copy of this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review.